Walt's Greatest Secret
by DoctorWhovian11and10
Summary: Willa, Charlene, and Finn take a wrong turn and end up in a Disney World under Disney World. But this park is different. How is it different, and what do they have to do to stay inside? My entry for the KKI challenge Escher's Keep. Enjoy!


"Where are we?" Willa squeaked, quivering in the cool air. An eerie stillness settled upon her, Finn, and Charlene as they stood in the darkness. Willa jumped anxiously when she felt Charlene's reassuring grasp on her shoulder. Charlene squeezed and said, "We were trying to get away from Scar in Escher's Keep, right? So what happened? Did we, like, fall into a cavern or something when we slid down that slide?" Willa shrugged, trying to remain calm. Her fear of the dark churned her stomach as she pictured all sorts of monsters or villains that could be approaching her right this very minute. Suddenly, a thought occurred to her: "Where's Finn? Didn't he fall down here with us?" Silence. Charlene let out a small, nervous noise and clutched Willa's arm even tighter. The girls stood there for a minute, clutching each other. Then, a loud bright light pierced the silence of the darkness, forcing Charlene and Willa to let go of one another and shield their eyes. Once their eyes had adjusted, they glanced down and gasped to see Finn sprawled on the ground in front of them, clearly unconscious. Charlene knelt down and brushed the stray hair out of his eyes, trying to wake him, while Willa searched the seemingly unending brick walls for some kind of clue as to how they would escape this - "Tunnel of Good," a voice boomed behind her. Willa whirled around and Charlene's head snapped up to see a magnificent golden lion with a tangerine orange mane meandering towards them. The ground seemed to vibrate every time he took a step, and warmth and power echoed off of him. "Simba..." Willa breathed. Simba smiled, his friendly cocoa eyes glistening. "Yes, that's me," he replied, and though he spoke nonchalantly, he sounded magnificent, like a king. Because he is a king, Willa thought to herself, the king of beasts. "As I was saying," Simba continued, stopping mere feet in front of Willa, his tail flicking through the glowing air, "welcome to the Tunnel of Good. You're welcome here, Willow. As are you, Shirly," he said, regarding Charlene with pride. "And your friend? The mighty Fish? Is he alright?" Willa couldn't bring herself to correct this impressive lion, and as she tried to formulate a sentence, Charlene responded: "Simba - sir - our friend...Fish...he's hurt. We think - um - Scar - hurt him, and when he fell down here, something happened..." Simba padded past Willa and a scent of dry grass flowed through her. The lion stopped next to Finn and Charlene backed away. Simba leaned over the boy and a purr sounded deep in his throat. When he lifted his shaggy head, Finn's eyes were open. He sat up and looked at Simba, and then a smile spread across his face. "We're in the Tunnel of Good, aren't we?" he murmured. Willa and Charlene looked at each other, confused. "Wayne told me about it," Finn explained, getting up and dusting off his shorts. "He says it's a place where all good is enhanced. Look at Simba - see how the good just radiates off of him? That's what it's like down here...all of the good guys come here to escape the villains and have some peace." Willa looked around the dull brick atmosphere in confusion, but suddenly, as she thought the word good over and over in her mind, the bricks began to sparkle, and then fade away until they were gone. Suddenly, she was in front of the castle. The park was bustling, but not with ordinary guests - Willa looked around and saw Aurora, Bambi, Donald - countless Disney heroes and heroines wandering the park-under-the-park, chatting, or waiting in lines for food or rides. Willa turned and saw Charlene mirroring her wide-mouthed shock, while Finn was beaming as though he had been waiting for this moment. Simba nodded to the trio and they headed down Main Street towards the entrance, passing as they went Rapunzel and Sully laughing at a joke Tarzan had just made. Outside the Firehouse, Simba stopped and said, "This is where I leave you. I was told you would know where to go." The three exchanged looks and nodded happily. Wayne's apartment. They scurried up the metal stairs and entered the former home of Walt Disney, greeted by a content-looking Wayne reclining on an antique chair. Willa and Charlene collapsed onto a flowered chair and Finn took a stool next to Wayne's seat. "It's an illusion," the old man said right off the bat, "a sort of virtual reality world you enter if you end up in the Tunnel of Good. It's splendid, eh?" The kids nodded, enjoying this relaxing feeling of just sitting - not running from anything. "So is it only temporary?" Finn asked. "It is once you worry," Wayne replied cryptically. "Worry about what?" Willa blurted, confused. "Once you worry about whatever it is you worry about," Wayne provided, not helping at all. "And once it's gone, it's very hard to find it again. The entrance moves several times per day to prevent evil from wandering in." "Evil..." Charlene gasped. Suddenly, just as the brick wall had faded away before, Charlene disappeared. Willa and Finn gasped, standing. "Sit, sit," Wayne said, not at all concerned, "just stay calm and you'll stay here. This is a place of good, after all. One thought of evil, and poof!" Wayne snapped his fingers. "You're gone." "You mean...like Disney villains evil?" Willa asked, considering Scar, who was waiting for them in Escher's Keep. The last thing she saw before she disappeared was Wayne opening his mouth to respond. Her eyes fluttered open and she was in Adventureland, standing next to Charlene in front of the Jungle Cruise. "It's a place of good," Willa realized, and Charlene eyed her, "so if any bad enters, even in a thought, that bad has to go!" Suddenly, Charlene got it, and she straightened. "The reason Finn is still there," she decided, "is because he's so good at clearing his mind. He's the best at all-clear, right? So he must be doing that right now." Willa nodded. She looked around Adventureland but for some reason felt dissatisfied. Did the music sound cheesy? Were the colors too dull? Was it the irritated looks on the visitors? Maybe being in the Tunnel of Good had changed her perception of the parks. Down below, the park had been glowing and mystical, but now, with the addition of evil, it felt darker and less exciting. But I like it better this way, Willa thought loyally. After all, this park has bad in it. Someone has to get rid of the villains. The Tunnel of Good may be great, but this park needs us. And we need to protect it. 


End file.
